BOSTON (WHDH) - A man who has been a fixture at Boston City Hall for years and is currently battling a terminal illness received a touching tribute from Mayor Martin J. Walsh on Friday.
A large crowd of friends and coworkers gathered for a special ceremony honoring 42-year-old Jimmy Donnelly, a longtime parking attendant for the City Hall garage.
Donnelly is currently hospitalized with a terminal illness but he’ll never be forgotten because Walsh announced that the City Hall garage has been renamed after him.
“This is his garage,” Walsh exclaimed. “We want to say thank you for being that face of Boston.”
Donnelly grew up in Southie and dreamed of working at City Hall as a kid.
Over the years, he made countless friends on the job and was often the first person people encountered at City Hall.
“Everyone here is here because they love Jimmy Donnelly,” Wash said. “He just had such an impact on people’s lives. When he came into City Hall to work as a parking attendant, he probably had no idea the impact he would have on people and he’s had such a profound impact on people.”
The City Hall garage is flanked with tributes to important people, such as former Boston Celtics player Bill Russell and former Mayor Kevin White, but Walsh says Donnelly deserves this as much as they do.
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